Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Last night, while talking on the phone, I was looking at a 1960 Topps Forrest Gregg football card that happened to be on my desk. Hmm, I thought, I don’t think I ever noticed that “Forrest” is missing an “r” on this card. So I checked my Gallery to see if I had previously marked it as an error. Nope. Then I checked my Beckett catalog to see if it was marked in there. Nope again. Then I checked a few more online checklists that I know of. Nope, nope, nope. Surely someone has noticed the error before–it’s a rookie card of a Hall of Famer, after all–but for some reason it hasn’t made it into the hobby publications.

So, at long last, I documented the error in my Gallery. Below are some pictures; you can see the misspelling once on the front and three times on the back.

To see all of the error cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery, click here. For my previous blog articles about error cards–including others that don’t appear in the publications–click here.

Last week I added 1977 Holsum Bread cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The set, which was produced for Holsum by Topps, contains only Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. I filed the cards under Food and Regional Issues. Check ’em out!

If you follow this blog, you know that recently I have been creating interactive versions of the team cards in the 1956 Topps football card set. You also know that, while working on these team cards, I have encountered some notable players who did not appear on cards of their own. For example, Deral Teteak, a member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, appeared on the 1956 Topps Packers team card, but he never appeared on a card by himself. And Chuck Noll, the Hall of Fame coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, appears on the 1956 Topps Cleveland Browns team card, but the card companies never gave him his own card as a player.

Well, Steve Liskey, owner of thecowboysguide.com, has been giving these neglected players their due. Steve calls his creations “RetroCards,” and he sells them on his web site and on eBay. Here are his Deral Teteak and Chuck Noll cards, part of the “StarCards” series. Click on any image to see a larger version.

Last week I added 1969 Drenk’s Green Bay Packers pins to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke pins are pictured here. See the Gallery for the rest of the pins and a description of the set. I filed the pins under Oddball.

Former NFL running back and punter Donny Anderson is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Anderson played from 1966 to 1974 for the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Cardinals. He gained over 1000 yards from scrimmage four times, and he made the Pro Bowl with the Packers in 1968. He played on the Packers teams that won the first two Super Bowls.

Before his pro career, Anderson starred at Texas Tech. He is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

Anderson is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1968 Topps. He also appeared on at least a dozen more cards, stamps, and stickers.

Happy birthday, Mr. Anderson!

I recently added another interactive team card to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, the 1956 Topps Green Bay Packers card. Clicking on the card pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

I enjoy working on these team cards because it gives me an opportunity to acknowledge the players who never appeared on cards of their own. On this card, for instance, there are two members of the Packers Hall of Fame who never had their own cards. One is Deral Teteak, who starred at linebacker and guard for the Packers from 1952 to 1956. The other is Bud Jorgensen, who, after a brief playing career, served as an equipment manager and trainer for the Packers for 47 years.

Over time, I hope to make all of the team cards in the Gallery interactive. For those of you who haven’t seen them, here are the others I have done so far: 1958 Topps Baltimore Colts, 1959 Topps New York Giants, 1961 Topps Green Bay Packers, 1963 Topps Dallas Cowboys, 1964 Topps Oakland Raiders, and 1967 Philadelphia Cleveland Browns.

Former NFL quarterback John Roach is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Roach played seven seasons for the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Dallas Cowboys. He was a member of NFL Championship teams with the Packers in 1961 and 1962.

Roach appeared on two football cards, both in 1961, but with different teams. His 1961 Topps card pictures him with the Cardinals, but he was traded before the 1961 season first to the Cleveland Browns, then to the Packers, and he ended up on a 1961 Lake to Lake Packers card, as well. Both of his cards are pictured below.

According to OldestLivingProFootball.com, Roach is the 496th oldest former professional American football player.

Happy birthday, Mr. Roach!

This week I picked up two more miscut cards that will help me figure out how 1962 Topps football cards were arranged on the uncut sheets. The Boyd Dowler card shown here has a sliver of Roger LeClerc’s card on the right, and the Steve Myhra card has a bit of Joe Walton’s card on the right. Both of these clues let me add on to pieces of the puzzle I already had. You can see my progress on the 1962 Topps virtual uncut sheet page of the Vintage Football Card Gallery. Scroll toward the bottom to see where the new pieces fit.

Why are uncut sheets interesting? See a previous article, U is for Uncut Sheets.

Merv Pregulman, who played from 1946 to 1949 for the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, and New York Bulldogs, passed away on November 29. There is a story about Pregulman, along with a few photos, on Chattanooga’s WRCBtv.com web site. Pregulman received All-America honors at the University of Michigan, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982. Between college and the NFL, he served in World War II.

Pregulman appeared on one football card, the 1948 Bowman card pictured here.

Jim Temp, a defensive end for the Green Bay Packers from 1957 to 1960, passed away on November 25. The Green Bay Press Gazette web site has a story about Temp, along with several photos. Temp was a member of the 1960 Packers team that lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL championship game. At the University of Wisconsin, Temp starred in both football and baseball. He was inducted into the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

Temp did not appear on a regular issue football card, but he did appear on the 1961 Lake to Lake Packers card shown here. His Lake to Lake card is one of the short prints in the set. The short prints are much scarcer–and thus much more valuable–than the other cards in the set.